Mistaken Identity
by CSIfan8686
Summary: Sara's world falls apart, but then a miracle happens.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. Just a little something which I've been thinking about for a while. I finally decided to write it after dreaming about it. **

**Enjoy!**

**Mistaken Identity**

Sara's getting worried.

He's usually phoned her by now. He calls at the same time everyday, but today he's two hours late. She's tried to phone him a few time but the call goes straight through to his voicemail.

"Get a grip, Sara. He's probably busy." she says, trying to make herself feel better.

Sighing, she opens her laptop and brings it out of its 'sleep mode'. As she waits for the screen to load she tries phoning him again, and upon hearing his voicemail she leaves him a quick message asking him to phone her ASAP. Clicking on the icon to connect to 'Skype', she sees that he's already online. She clicks on his link and his face appears on her screen.

"Hey you." she smiles, her heart fluttering at the sight of her husband.

"Err... Sara. Hi... err..." stammers Gil.

Sara looks at him curiously, and she can't help the niggle of worry which invades her.

"Gil, is everything okay?"

"Err... yeah, fine. I'm fine. Listen, Sara, I'm really busy here. Can I phone you back?"

She watches him for a long moment, and feels her heart drop into her stomach when she finds that he's not even looking at her.

"Sure, okay."

"Okay, bye." he replies, without a second thought.

He's just about to cut the call when Sara interrupts.

"Gil." she shouts. She sees his jaw stiffen as he bites his teeth together, showing that he's annoyed. "You would tell me if there was something wrong?" she queries quietly.

He makes a noise somewhere between a sigh and a growl.

"For goodness sake, Sara, I'm fine. I just have a lot on right now. And I'm having a bad day, I really don't want to speak right now. I'll phone you when I have time, okay."

Letting out a breath he instantly regrets what he's just said to her. He didn't mean for his words to sound the way they did, and he can see the hurt was over her face.

"Fine!" she barks in reply.

"Sar..."

She cuts him off mid sentence by slamming her laptop shut.

Within seconds of disconnecting her mobile starts ringing, and knowing that it's Gil she ignores it. She sits with her computer in her lap, staring at with hate, and ignoring her phone as it rings constantly. In the end she can't listen to it ring anymore, so she turns it on to 'silent' mode and throws it on to the chair opposite her. Sighing she opens her laptop back up, only to be hounded by a never ending stream of Instant Messages, all reading pretty much the same thing, _"Sara, I'm so sorry. Please answer your phone."_ and _"Honey, please answer your phone and I'll explain."_

Seeing that he's still online, and typing her another message, she quickly sends one to him.

"_Gil, I'm sorry that you're having a bad day, but you have NO right to take it out on me. I'm having a bad time too, by the way. Tough case at work involving the death of a little boy, not that you're interested. Listen, I'm going to bed, my phone's on silent so please stop phoning me. Maybe I'll speak to you when I have a little more time."_

She sits quietly for moment, shaking with hurt, or maybe anger, before turning her laptop off. Standing up, she places it on the table with a little more force than necessary, and grabs her phone and heads down the hall to the bedroom.

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For the next three days she avoids his calls, texts and emails. She knows that she's just being stubborn and that she should reply to him, let him know that she's okay, but she's so angry with him for making her feel like such an inconvenience. She still can't believe how cold he was towards her. She carries on working as normal, laughing and smiling with the guys, and even going out breakfast with them. But the way she's feeling she's sure to make some mistakes during work, so she's processing evidence with extra care, and avoiding all and any questions. At one point he actually phones her at the lab but, Sara being Sara, she told him that she didn't have time for him and she hung up.

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On day four when she wakes up from, yet another, restless sleep, she decides to phone him or answer his call, whichever comes first. She hates that they're not speaking; she hates that they haven't spoken for days. Sitting up in bed she checks her phone, and seeing that he last called her two hours ago, she takes a breath and calls him back. She groans when his voicemail picks up, she wouldn't be surprise if he was now avoiding her calls. At the last moment she decides to leave him a message. _"Gil, hi, it's me. Sara. Err... I'm really sorry for ignoring your calls. I was being stubborn. I was really hurt by the way you spoke to me, but I know you didn't mean it to sound the way it came out. Listen... we need to talk; to sort this out, so if you phone me when you get this I promise that I'll answer or phone you straight back. I...I love you, Gil."_

She heads into work early, to grab herself an extra large – extra strong – coffee before shift. She's hardly slept for days, and today she feels like she's been awake for a month straight. Upon entering the breakroom she heads straight over to the coffee pot and searches the cupboards for Greg's secret stash of coffee. She busies herself making it and she sighs when she finally sits down at the table with a steaming mug in front of her. Pulling out her phone she tries to phone her husband again, and again leaves him a message when his voicemail picks up. _"It's me again. I suppose I deserve you avoiding my calls but we do need to sort this. For goodness sake, Gil, we live four thousand miles apart and we hardly see eachother, we can't not speak to eachother either. Just... please, Gil, phone me."_

Catherine enters the breakroom as Sara's finishing her coffee and scrolling through the photos on her phone.

"Sara, what's going on with you?" she asks softly.

Sara sighs. "Nothing. I'm fine. Everything's fucking fine." she shouts, making one of the lab techs, from day shift, jump as he walks past the open door.

Catherine nods her head and turns around. Sara thinks she's about to leave, and she sighs with relief, but she closes the door and returns to the table. Taking the seat opposite her, Cath gives Sara 'the look'.

"What's going on?"

For long minutes Sara sits quietly. She doesn't know what to say, but she ends up spilling all to her her colleague; her friend. She tells her everything from the video call, to the messages, the hurt.

"Now he's avoiding me, Catherine. And... I'm just so sick of this. I'm sick of everything." she says, gesturing wildly with her hands. "I'm sick of us not being together. I hate the fact that we live four thousand miles apart, and I hate that he's now avoiding me, although I can't say that I don't deserve it."

"Sara, talk to him." whispers Cath softly.

"I've tried. He's not answering my calls."

"No, I mean tell him how you feel about being apart."

"I...I can't."

"Why?"

"Because... He left Vegas for me, I can't ask him to leave Peru for me."

"Why can't you join him out there?"

"I could, and I love it out there, but I could only be there as a volunteer, I wouldn't be paid. And that would be fine but..."

"You like your own independence." finishes Cath.

Sara smiles a little. "Yeah. I've never asked for anything before, I'm not going to start now."

"I still say talk to him, Sara. Even if only for a few months, I know he'd love you to be there with him. And you'd manage fine with the money situation."

"I thought we were managing fine but... with not speaking for days it's... I just miss him."

They sit quietly for a while until the ringing of Sara's phone disturbs them. Picking it up from the table, she smiles when the number shows as coming from Peru.

"It's him..." she smiles, looking at the phone then to Cath.

"Go... " she smiles.

"Thanks, Catherine."

She answers the phone smiling as she leaves the room.

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She's sitting on the bench in front of her open locker, with her police issued weapon in her lap. She can't take her eyes off the photos which are taped to the inside of her locker door. All the pictures are of her and Gil, and Hank, of various scenarios since they got married. Her eyes keep wandering to the picture which was taken the day they were married, she smiles. In the photo the sun is setting, the 'Happy Couple' are lost in eachothers gaze, with Hank at their feet, as dozens of butterflies fly overhead. For a second, Sara smiles at remembering the greatest day of her life. It was such a beautiful day, everything was simple, yet so perfect. She was wearing a plain cream gypsy style dress, and her hair was curly, with the humidity, with a wild white rose tucked beside her ear. Even without make-up, and other accessories, she'd never felt so beautiful.

A tear falls from her left eye, and then from her right, she tries to wipe them away but more and more keep spilling over. The pain she's feeling is immense, she never felt anything like it in her life. She feels as if she's slowly being tortured. How can the 'Higher Powers' be so cruel? She was finally happy and at peace, but now she's been dealt the cruellest of hands. She can barely see for crying so hard, thick tears falling from her swollen eyes, and she's gasping for breath as she struggles to take in what she's been told. She feels dead inside. It feels like her heart has been torn from her chest and she's been left completely lifeless.

The gun feels unbelievably heavy in her hands, she's never noticed the weight of it before. Usually it feels comfortable, but right now it feels like a tone weight. Closing her eyes she wishes that she had the nerve to pull the trigger; to end her pain, but for two reasons she can't bring herself to do it. She couldn't bare to put her team through the pain of finding her body and discovering that it was suicide. It was bad enough when Warrick was killed, their team hasn't been the same since. And she can't bare the thought of ending the life of her unborn child; her husbands legacy.

She's only known for a few days, she never even got around to telling him that she's pregnant, all because she was too busy acting like a spoiled child.

Sighing she disarms her weapon and throws it in the bottom of her locker, and just as she looks up she's startled to see Cath walk in.

"Hey, Sara." she says as she moves towards her locker, unaware of the pained expression Sara is showing.

Sara whimpers quietly, dragging Cath's attention back to her, and seeing her face she knows that something is seriously wrong.

"Sara, what's wrong?" she asks.

Sara looks at her blankly, reminding Cath of a deceased body lying on a table down in the morgue.

Hesitating, Cath moves a little closer to her so that she's standing next to Sara's open locker.

"Sara?"

"He... He..." she cries. "He's left me Catherine. After all we've been through he's left me all alone. I hate him for leaving me. I hate him." she screams.

All of the muscles in her body seem to give way at once and she slides from the bench onto the cold tile floor.

"What?" asks Cath, not grasping what she's just heard.

"I... I never got to tell... to tell him that... He didn't know how much I loved him, or how much I need him. He didn't know that I was phoning him to apologise for ignoring him."

"Wait, Sara, hold on." comes Cath's shaking voice. "What are you saying?"

"Gil... He's dead."

Cath can't believe what she's just heard. She feels like she's had the wind knocked out of her.

"W...what? No..." she whispers, her own tears starting to spill.

"The head of the camp in Peru phoned me earlier, Marcia Bellows. There was a...a fire. His tent went up in flames. They found him in the tent; his body was..." she cries. "Everyone is accounted for except for him. He's dead. He... He didn't know that I loved him, Catherine. He didn't know that I'm pregnant..." With those final words Sara falls into a state of complete hysterics.

The only thing which registers with Cath is the fact that Sara's pregnant. Her motherly instincts kick in, she knows that, for the baby's sake, she must try to keep her calm.

Sara collapses in her arms, screaming and crying in agony; the pain of losing her soul mate. She kicking her arms and legs wildly, as if she fighting off an attacker, accidentally give Cath numerous bruises as she tries to restrain her.

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Half an hour later, sitting on the floor of the locker room, Catherine is still holding Sara as she cries. She's lost for words, she doesn't know of anything to say which will comfort Sara, or herself. She doesn't know what to do. She's been trying to make a list of things which need to be done, but all she can thin about is that her best friend has died.

Her eyes are closed when Nick walks in, startling her from her thoughts.

"Cath? Sara? What's going on?" he asks, knowing that something is wrong.

"Nick, errr... I need you to..." she swallows the lump in her throat. "I need you to look after Sara." she says, nodding her head in encouragement. "I...I have to make a few phone calls.

Nick walks around the bench and crouches down next to Sara. He gently takes hold of her and pulls her against his chest, with all the care he'd take with a new born child. As Cath is released from Sara's grasp she gives Nick a 'look', he knows instantly and he holds on to Sara a little tighter.

"Nick?" whispers Cath from the doorway. "She's pregnant. Keep her calm, I have some calls to make."

All Nick can do is nod his head and hold his best friend as he watches Cath walk out.

The next few hours pass in a blur for Catherine. The first thing she does after leaving, a heartbroken, Sara is phone the camp in Peru. She speaks to Marcia Bellows making her go through everything from start to finish. She confirms that Gil Grissom is the only member of the camp unaccounted for. After ending the call she informs Ecklie and gathers her team together in the breakroom. Breaking the news to nightshift is the hardest thing she's ever had to do; Greg, Ray, Jim Brass, Doc Robbins, Mandy, Hodges, Henry and super Dave. All whilst Nick stays with Sara, who has, by now, fallen into a trance like state. She can see that some of the guys are struggling to hold on to their grief, so after answering a few questions she tells them what's going to happen and ends their meeting. Brass is first to leave the room, desperate to find a quiet room where he can grieve for his friend. She silently thanks him for not crying in front of her. There's something about a grown man crying which tugs at her heart strings, and she doesn't think she has the strength to comfort anyone but Sara right now.

Eventually, after sorting things out, she heads back to check on Sara. Taking a deep breath she pushes open the door to find that Brass in now sitting on the floor with her. She doubts that Sara even knows he's there. Her whole body's trembling, yet she's not crying, as she stares straight ahead at the locker opposite. Cath takes a seat on the bench in front of her friend, unnerved by the lost and pleading looking in her eyes.

"Sara..." she speaks quietly. "I know you don't want to do this now but I've booked us onto the 11:30 pm flight to Lima, Peru.

Sara rolls her head to side and, still in a daze, a tiny smile pulls at her mouth.

"We've been trying for a baby for almost a year. He said that he didn't mind if we had a boy or a girl, just as long as it was healthy. But I know, I know, he wanted a girl, and now he's never going to know..."

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Sitting in the airport, waiting for their Check In desk to open, both Catherine and Sara are sitting on the hard metal seats back towards the main doors.

"Sara?" asks Cath softly.

Sara blinks, indicating that she heard her but making no effort to move or look at her.

"Can I get you anything?"

"My husband..." she wails, as fresh tears start to roll down her cheeks. "Oh no... Betty. She doesn't know. I haven't told her. I guess I make a rubbish daughter-in-law as well as a rubbish wife.

"Sshh... Jim's trying to get hold of her, he's having trouble locating her right now though."

"I...I should be the one to tell her." she cries. "I can't do this, I have to go."

Reaching out, Cath takes Sara's hand in hers.

"Sara, you have to do this. You're his wife, only you can claim the body."

"No!" barks Sara, her voice loud and startling. "No, it's not 'the' body. It's my husbands body. My husbands unidentifiable body."

She quickly stands up, pulling her hand out of Cath's, and starts to pace the small area where they're sitting.

"Sar..." cries Cath, now struggling to hold on to her own emotions.

"No." she screams, attracting attention. "I can't do this. I can't. I'm not ready."

Again something snaps inside Sara, she falls to ground in a crumpled heap and weeps. Cath quickly moves to where Sara is falling apart, she kneels down in front of her, taking her in her arms again, and they both cry.

A crowd starts to form around the two crying women, but nobody offers any form of help or support. They just stand and stare, eager to see what's wrong and enjoying the excitement. Catherine ignores them, her friend is grieving the death of her husband and making a scene won't help things.

She can feel Sara shaking, every inch of her body seems to be trembling with the pain that she's feeling. She runs her hands up and down Sara's back, trying to keep her together.

For a few minutes, or what could be hours, they hold eachother, trying to bring even a little comfort.

"I'm sorry, Sara, I shouldn't have booked this flight. It's too soon." she whispers, stroking her hair.

"It'll always be too soon." comes Sara's quiet and shaking voice. "I can't believe he's gone, Catherine. How am I supposed to live without him? How am I supposed to raise our child alone? And how am I supposed to live with myself knowing that our last conversation was practically a fight? I love him so much, but I hate him for leaving me." she wails into Cath's shoulder.

After a long night at the lab, Cath is relieved that Sara is now starting to make sense.

She's starting to grieve.

"Sara, I promise you that he knew how much you loved him. And I promise that you were everything to him. He loved you more than anything in world." says Cath. "You won't be alone through any of this, Sara. I'll be here for you; we'll all be here for you, throughout everything.

Sara sniffles. "But, I don't want you. I want Gil. I want my husband."

Cath can feel her clinging to the front of her jacket, the opening scrunched tightly in Sara's clenched fists, as she rests her head against her shoulder.

"It hurts, Cath." whimpers Sara, making small choking sounds as she fights of a wheezing coughing fit. "It hurts more than anything..."

"I know it hurts, Sara. I'm sorry.

"I...I don't feel well, Cath."

Cath's eyes widen. For a split second she panics, but she tries tries to keep herself composed. She was right, it's too soon to fly to Peru. She needs to get Sara to the hospital, to be checked over. She'd feel a little better knowing that the baby is okay after such a stressful day.

As if on cue a security guard parts the hovering crowd and saunters over to the two women.

"Is there a problem, ma'am?" he asks, eyeing the women cautiously. "Maybe we can move this somewhere private?"

"No, I can't move her. Listen..." she moves her hand from the back of Sara's head and digs around in her pocket, and finding her business card she hands it to the uncomfortable looking stranger. "My name's Catherine Willows, I work for LVPD. I need you to phone this number and speak to Captain Jim Brass, and if you can't get hold of him get a message to him. Get him to come here straight away, and to phone for an ambulance. Tell him it's for Sara."

the guard looks puzzled by her request, but he agrees and turns to walk away.

"Oh, and please can you get me a bottle of water?" asks Cath, making him turn back around.

"Err... sure. Oh, here." he says, handing her a cold bottle. "Have this. It's unopened, I've just bought it."

She smiles faintly and accepts it.

"Thanks."

Sitting on the floor, in the middle of the growing crowd, Cath rocks Sara back and forth. She's worried about her, she's worried about her team, and she's devastated by the loss of her best friend. She doesn't know how much longer she can stay strong. She can still feel Sara shaking, and she's starting to cough with crying so much. Unscrewing the cap from the bottle, she gently nudges Sara backwards so that she can see her face. Her heart breaks at the look in her eyes. If she didn't know any better she's think Sara was dying. Her eyes are distant and glassy, but she's finally managed to stop crying again.

"Here, Sara, have a drink." she says, handing her the bottle.

She looks blankly at the bottle but accepts it and takes a few short sips.

"Shouldn't we... shouldn't we go?" sniffs Sara, looking up with pleading brown eyes.

"We're not going, Sara. It's too soon for you. Maybe in a few days, okay?"

"What? We have to go. We have to." she shouts, her voice alerting the crowd. Her eyes change from glassy to dark, and fat tears start to fall as she gets herself more and more worked up. "He's all alone out there, Cath. I can't leave him alone, I cant... He shouldn't be alone. I need to be there..." she cries. Pushing herself further away from Catherine, Sara moves to stand up but crumbles again when she feels her take hold of her shoulders.

The sight and sound of Sara breaking down again forces Cath to start crying uncontrollable tears. She feels her stomach twist into knots with the pain she's feeling. She's tried to stay strong, for Sara's sake, but she can't help the heart wrenching sobs as she holds Sara.

After a few minutes she sees Jim approaching through the crowd, looking disgusted by the people gawking, and come to a standstill in front of her.

"Jim... Take her, please, take her. She's pregnant and I can't calm her down. I think we should get her to hospital." she cries.

He gasps in shock, but eases Sara out of Cath's arms and into his, holding her close to his chest.

Freeing herself from Sara's grasp she stands up. Running her hands across her face, and through her golden hair, she growls at hearing whispers coming from the gathered crowd.

She snaps.

"Can someone please tell me what you find so fascinating about watching a woman fall to pieces because she's just lost her husband of four years." she spits, spinning around to face the onlookers.

Everyone in the crowd dips their head in shame.

"You." barks Cath, pointing to a young couple standing hand in hand. "You two married? How long?"

"Urmm... yes, for err... two years." stammers the young blonde woman.

"Any children?"

"I'm... We're expecting our first." she whispers, placing a hand over her swollen abdomen.

Catherine nods. "Congratulations."

She hears Sara cry out Gil's name and a few tears spill over.

"She's pregnant too." she says, cocking her head towards her broken friend. "But she'll have to bring up her child alone. Her husband didn't even know that he was going to be dad. That child will never know how sweet, or how amazing, his daddy was. And you guys; all of you guys, find it exciting to watch her cry because she feels like her life's over." she finishes, her eyes wandering over the many faces which are still standing there. "What the hell are you guys still doing here? GO. NOW."

Moving back over to Jim and Sara, she crouches down and runs her hand up Sara's back.

"He's gone, Jim." she whimpers. "I want to hate him for leaving me, but I can't, I love him so much. I want him back. I want him right here, with me."

"Sshh...I know sweetheart. I know." he soothes. "Listen, Sara, I need you to let us get you to hospital to get your baby checked over. Do you think you can do that for me?"

"No, I have to go to Peru. He's all alone." she pants, trying to catch her breath.

"I know, Sara, and I'm really sorry, but it's important."

"Gil's important too."

"Yes, he is. But right now you and you're baby are the most important."

She sniffles and pulls away to look up at him.

"I...I don't want him to be alone."

"It'll only be for a day or two, just until we know that your both okay."

She looks at Cath and then back to Jim, and with watery eyes she nods her head.

"Will someone come with me? I can't do this by myself?"

"I'll be with you every step of the way, Sara. I promise." says Cath, tucking a strand of hair behind Sara's ear.

They both help Sara up and sit her on a nearby seat so that she can try to compose herself. She takes a long swig of water, finishing the bottle, and lets it fall from her hands.

"I wish he'd known." she says softly and holds both hands to her stomach.

"He'd be over the moon, Sara." smiles Jim.

Sara nods her head. "He would."

She pushes herself up and wipes her eyes in hopes of stopping her tears, but it doesn't work. As she wipes one away another falls. She doesn't think she'll ever stop crying, she doesn't think the pain will ever go away.

Two paramedics rush in, apologising for the delay due to an accident, and move straight over to where Jim and Cath are sitting. Cath pulls them both to one side, out of Sara's earshot, and explains the situation to them. Their main concern, the same as Cath's, is the health of her unborn child.

"Hi, Sara. My name's Malcolm." says the younger of the two medics, as he approaches Sara. "Do you mind if we sit down?"

He gestures towards the seats which she was sitting on a few minutes ago, and without a word she saunters over and sits down.

"I'm going to check your blood pressure first, okay?"

"I'm... I'm pregnant..." she whispers.

"I know. We just need to check that your baby's okay. I hear you've had a stressful day?"

"Yeah, my husband... He... There was a..."

"It's okay, Sara. How are you feeling?"

"Well, apart from my broken heart I feel fine. I felt a bit dizzy just now but that's passed."

He nods his head and starts to wrap a rubber cuff around the top of Sara's arm.

Cath and Jim move off to the side to give the medics some room to work on Sara. Cath's relieved that the crowd has now dispersed, except for the odd person stopping to have look at what's going on. She's dreading the next few days, she doesn't know if she can hold herself together long enough to see Sara through.

"How are you doing?" asks Jim, placing his hand gently on her back.

"I...I can't believe it. It doesn't feel real. Poor Sara. I don't know what to do, or say, to comfort her. It's heartbreaking, Jim, seeing her like this." she whispers, wiping her eyes. "What are we going to do? How do we get through this? How do we get Sara through this?"

"Oh, Catherine, I don't know. All I know is that Sara, and the baby she's carrying, will need us more than ever. We have to see them through this first."

"He's... He's really gone, Jim. He's my best friend, and yours, and we'll never see him again."

He's just about to pull Catherine into a hug when Malcolm interrupts their moment.

"We're ready to take her in now. Everything seems fine, however, her blood pressure is extremely high, dangerously so. It's the highest I've come across in my five years of doing this. She'll have to be monitored until it comes right down."

"Okay. I'm staying with her." says Cath, wiping her eyes and pulling herself together. "Can you give two minutes whilst I..." she cocks her head towards the bathrooms.

"Sure. I'll go let Sara know what's happening and I'll inform the maternity unit at the hospital." he replies.

Catherine turns back to Jim with nothing but sorrow in her eyes.

"I'm sorry for calling you out, Jim. I just figured you might have been able to calm her..."

"I know." he soothes.

"Can you let the guys know what's happening? I'm going to stay with Sara."

"Yeah, no problem." he says, pulling out his phone. "I'll let them know now. Keep me updated on Sara, I have to visit Betty. I finally found her, she's staying with a friend out in Henderson whilst they celebrate another friends birthday. I don't know what to tell her. What do I say about why Sara isn't there?"

Shrugging her shoulder she allows her eyes to wander over the hundreds of smiling faces in the airport: families and couples going on holiday, smartly dressed men and women going on business trips, and college students causing a racket as they prepare for a mini break. How can these people be so happy? She hates them for it, she hates that the rest of the world isn't suffering like Sara is. She looks over at the door on the other side of the building, the door from arrivals, and her eyes land on a man as he walks out into the open space. He's scruffy looking with a stubbly beard, and he looks as if he hasn't slept for days. She turns to walk away but then does a double take, her mouth falling open in shock.

"It can't be..." she mutters.

But she knows that it is. She'd recognise him anywhere.

Jim hears her gasp so he turns around to face her, removing the phone from his ear.

"Catherine?" he asks, taking in her pale face.

"Jim... Is that..."

Following her gaze he shrugs he shoulders, he doesn't see anything but a scruffy looking man.

"Catherine, what are you..."

"Gil..." she whispers.

Her eyes are stinging but she's too scared to blink in case the beautiful image fades away.

He looks back to the scruffy man and gasps.

"It can't be... Oh my..."

"It is, Jim. It's him.

Without thinking he shuts his phone and puts it in his pocket as he turns around to face Sara, who's crying again. She's being helped to her feet, by Malcolm, after refusing to be taken out on a stretcher. Moving quickly he walks over to her and grabs her arm.

Sara, startled by his speed, looks through the crowd to see what he's looking at. She doesn't see him at first, she's too tired and confused, but then her eyes widen like she's seeing a ghost. The blood drains from her face, and there's no mistaking the emotions which hit her with full force: joy, fear and anger. The joy she feels at seeing her husband, who was supposedly dead, is overwhelming. Her legs turns to jelly and she stumbles forward, but manages to to cling on to Jim to stop her falling. Next she feels paralysed by fear. What if what she's seeing is a figment of her imagination? What if she's not really seeing what she's seeing? What if, in a few moments, her heart will break all over again?

"Gil..." she whispers, looking quickly at Jim, then Cath, and back into the crowd.

All Jim can manage is a sharp nod of his head as a shocked smile forms his mouth.

She fights off Malcolm and takes a few slow steps forward, dropping the blue woollen blanket from around her shoulders. Although he's still a good five hundred yards away there's no mistaking that the man they're gawking at is Gil Grissom.

For a brief moment anger surges through Sara. She's been put through hell the last few hours, someone made her believe that her husband was dead. Someone should be made to pay for putting her through that.

Still feeling overwhelmed, and a little light headed, Sara takes off sprinting towards him, quickly followed by Cath, Jim and Malcolm. It feels like she's running forever, as if she's a dog on treadmill chasing a bone. Her eyes are spilling a stream of fresh tears, blurring her vision, but she doesn't wipe them away. Instead she runs faster than ever before, knowing that her sanity; her life, depends on what happens within the next few moments.

Gil's eyes widen in shock when he sees a stampede running towards him. And he finally sees Sara a millisecond before she leaps into his arms.

"Sara?" asks Gil confused.

Flinging her arms around his neck, and holding on for dear life, she kisses him deeply. For a long moment they're inseparable, but eventually her body gives in to uncontrollable sobs, making her go limp in his arms.

With four days of no sleep and the added weight of Sara, Gil falls to his knees with Sara in his arms. He holds her as she cries and looks up to Cath and Brass as they stop in front of him, both looking lost for words.

"Sshh..." he soothes, placing kisses to the top of her head.

After a few minutes of trying to calm Sara, and trying to get over the shock of her leaping into his arms without warning, he finally looks back up at his friends.

"I... I... what's going on? What's wrong with Sara?" he asks, stumbling over his words.

He doesn't get a reply, not from Jim, Cath or the paramedic, they're all just staring at him in awe.

"Can someone please tell me what the hell is wrong with my wife!" he shouts, suddenly fear ridden.

"Gil..." gasps Catherine, trying to hold on to her tears. "You were... Sara had a..." Cath stutters.

"What?" he asks, still shouting and startling some new onlookers.

"Gil, Sara had a phone call earlier saying that you were dead." says Jim, as he steps forward to relieve Catherine.

"What?" he asks softly, now looking down at his bawling wife.

"We... we were going to fly out to Peru to... you know...?" says Cath, finally finding her voice and nodding her head not wanting to say the words. "But Sara started to feel unwell. She's pregnant, Gil, she needs to calm down, you need to keep her calm. We were taking her to hospital to get checked out. She was so distressed, Gil."

"She's... she's pregnant?" he asks, looking at his wife with eyes full of admiration.

After a few minutes of trying to calm Sara down, and thankfully succeeding, he moves her away from his chest so that he can look her. Wave, and waves, of love for this remarkable woman rush through him when he sees her pale face. Just by looking at her he knows how hard the last few hours have been on her, he can see in her eyes that she's haunted by what she thought was true. He can't even begin to imagine what he would feel if their positions were reversed. If truth be told, he doesn't think he'd have made it as far as Sara.

"Sweetheart?" he whispers, brushing her hair away from her eyes. "Can we take you to hospital now?"

Weakly she nods her head and rest it against his shoulder.

"I'm pregnant." she smiles, her voice quiet and shaking.

"Sara, that's wonderful." he smiles. "We're going to be a proper family."

She sighs against his neck and her warm breath gives him goosebumps.

"I love you, Sara. More than anything."

"I love you, too." she whispers.

Cath, Jim and the paramedics help both Gil and Sara to their feet, and they all walk outside to the waiting ambulance.

**TBC**

**Epilogue/Chapter 2 to follow.**

**Well...what did you think?**

**I was going to write it all in one go but I think it might work better with happiness in a separate chapter. **

**Feel free to review.**

**Lynne xo**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, sorry this is a bit rushed but I hate leaving a story unfinished and after the reasons for Gil's bad day I completely ran out of ideas. **

**Mistaken Identity**

**Chapter 2**

He's sitting by her bedside holding her hand and waiting for her to wake up. She's slept for almost twelve hours so far but the doctor has reassured him that it's normal after what she went through yesterday; after so much distress and exhaustion sleep is the best way to recover. Cath and Jim had followed them to the hospital and explained everything to him and, at hearing the state Sara was in, his heart broke; he cried. He hasn't moved from her side since.

Lifting her hand to his lips he gives it a soft kiss and whispers to her. "You're so strong, Sara. What you were put through yesterday... If positions were reversed there's no way that I could've... I love you so much. I am so sorry for what's happened between us recently."

He smiles as Sara's doctor walks in and releases her hand so that she can be checked over.

"How's she doing?" asks the doctor, picking up her chart and reading the previous notes.

"Urmm... I don't know. She still hasn't woken up."

He's watching the doctor check her blood pressure and temperature, and then scan her abdomen to check on the baby again. He's looking for any sign of worry, but the doctor seems happy enough with the results.

"How is she? How's the baby?" asks Gil.

The doctor smiles. "Compared to last night there's nothing to worry about. Her blood pressure is still elevated but that's expected, and everything looks great with the foetus. You're going to have a healthy baby in six months time."

"So.. So there's no after effects from the stress or exhaustion or anything?"

"No, you're baby looks to be very strong."

"Just like her mother." he says softly, looking at his wife.

When the doctor leaves, Gil retakes his seat next to the bed and holds Sara's hand again. He talks to her to try to rouse her awake, and after what feels like hours of talking about himself and Peru he feels her stir. Keeping hold of her hand he stands over her just in time to see her eyes flutter open.

"Hey, welcome back." he smiles, relief coursing through his veins.

"The baby?" she asks, moving her free hand to her stomach.

"The baby's fine." he assures her. "You're fine, I'm fine. We're all fine." he smiles with watery eyes, placing his other hand over hers.

"I... I have so many questions and so much I want to say, but I really don't know where to start." she shakes her head and tries to smiles at him.

"Sara, you've just woke up from a stress induced sleep. All you need to know right now is that I love you. We're all going to be okay.," he says, stroking her hair. "And that I'm so sorry for everything that's happened recently. I was having a really bad day but I shouldn't have spoken to you the way I did. I am so sorry, honey. That's why I'm back here, to apologise. I hated that we weren't speaking so I booked a flight home to make it up to you."

"I need to know everything, Gil. After what I was put through yesterday I need to know every single detail. Who died? What happened? Why was I told it was you? Why were you having a bad day? I need to know..."

"I know you do." he sighs.

GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR

The next night, at home, Grissom and Sara are laying on their bad, wrapped in eachothers arms. He can hear her breathing evenly as she sleeps soundly, knowing that her world hasn't fallen to pieces. As he strokes her hair soothingly he thinks back to what's happened within the last week.

It all started when he woke up to find a snake coiled up on his chest. Although it wasn't a poisonous snake, waking up to find that you slept with one isn't exactly the best way to start the day. After recovering from the snake incident he grabbed a quick shower and headed to the main tent for some breakfast, only to discover that he'd over slept and there was nothing left apart from some fruit and some freshly brewed coffee. That's when he knew he was going to have a bad day. The staff in charge of the food this week had already left the tent and wouldn't be back until lunchtime and he didn't have time to mess about searching for food, so he made do with coffee, two bananas and an apple. He took a seat at one of the many empty tables and pulled his notebook from his rucksack, accidentally knocking his coffee over and spilling it over his notes and down the front of his clean t-shirt. At the stinging sensation he was feeling as the hot liquid soaked through his shirt, he cursed. It's not often he uses bad language but he couldn't help it, and if Sara had of heard him she would have been left speechless. He quickly cleaned up the mess he'd made and left the tent. He headed down to the stream where his group was meeting, and after a few evil looks, when people asked him what was wrong, they finally headed out of the camp. By the time they'd arrived at their destination he'd calmed down. He'd eaten his fruit and a cereal bar, which he found stashed in his bag, as they walked, and enjoyed the fresh morning air. As he was discussing their upcoming work with one of his colleagues they came across a swarm of at least twenty rare butterflies. He couldn't believe their luck. They've been searching for this breed for weeks ever since one was spotted in the camp a few weeks ago, and now they've came across a whole swarm of them. After snapping maybe a two dozen photos of them he made a mental note to email some of the pictures to Sara, knowing that she'd appreciate their beauty. He was feeling much better and he thought his day would turn out to be okay. He was wrong. As they walked through a shallow stream, close to the location they were working, he lost his footing and landed on his ass in the water, on top of a small rock. He growled with frustration but didn't think much more of it. The rest of the morning flew over and suddenly they were back at the camp and going for some lunch. He decided to go back to his tent to change before eating, his shorts smelled of fish water after falling the stream and he didn't want to put people off their meals. As he was changing something fell out of his back pocket. He froze on the spot; knowing what the item was without even looking. Before he left the food tent this morning he put his own personal use camera in his back pocket, with the intention of sorting the photos out to save onto a memory stick. That was the 'rock' he landed on in the stream. He pulled on some clean clothes quickly and picked up his camera. The screen was smashed and water was still dripping from the inside of the device. He cursed again. It wasn't the fact that his camera was broken which bothered him, as he has two spares, but the fact that this one was full of pictures of himself and Sara from her past three visits. He'd never got around to putting them onto his computer and onto memory stick. For the next few hours he stayed in his tent. He tried all kinds to get the photos onto his laptop but without luck. There were no pictures to be found, either due to water damage or the card its self was damaged in the fall. He must have fallen asleep on his cot because he woke up to find that it was dinner time, and since he'd barely eaten all day he headed out for food. He sat with his usual group but mainly kept quiet, he was in no mood for talking to anyone except for Sara. All he had to do was wait another hour until he could speak to her. He smiled at the thought, and after tidying away his plate he decided to go for a walk. He was in his own little world, thinking about his wife, when he realised that he'd been walking for almost an hour and he'd ended up at the small clearing which he only usually visits with Sara. It's their private spot. Sitting down in the long grass he reached for his phone and looked through his pictures, again mostly of himself and Sara. After a while, remembering that he was supposed to phone Sara, he was just about to speed-dial her number when the phone beeped, signalling that the battery was about to die, and then turned itself off. He lay down in the long grass and groaned. He could feel anger surge through him. All he'd wanted to do all day is hear his wife's voice and now he can't even do that until he's back at the camp after another long hour of waiting and walking. Pushing himself up, spurred on by the thought of Sara, he felt a beetle crawling over his left hand. He smiled a little and shrugged it off, and carefully placed it back in the long grass.

Eventually he'd made it back to tent. He turned on his laptop, deciding to Skype Sara instead of phoning her in hope that her beautiful face would make him forget all about his bad day. As he waited for his laptop to fully load he noticed that his hand had swelled up to twice its normal size, and that was when he noticed that his wedding band was stopping the flow of blood and causing pain. He felt his eyes sting with tears of anger. He knew what he was going to have to do, and he was dreading telling Sara, but then her face suddenly appeared on his screen and he was speechless. He wanted to tell her everything that had happened to him but he didn't have time; his hand was throbbing, he needed to get to the First Aid tent.

He didn't mean to snap at her but after the day he'd had the words just came out. He tried to phone back, and email her and text her but she was having none of it. Until she eventually sent him a message telling him to stop calling and that she'd also had a bad day at work. He felt awful because he knows certain cases really get to her and she'd obviously just finished a double shift and had the night off.

The next few days were torture. Sara avoided his calls like the plague, and all emails went unanswered or were replied to with sarcastic words. Eventually he'd had enough. They already lived too far apart for a decent marriage, add on top of that not speaking... it was killing him. So he booked a flight back to Las Vegas to sort out their, hopefully minor, problem. After leaving Hank up at the main house with the family in charge he caught a ride into town with James Harley, one of the guys from camp, who was doing the food run for the week. James was telling him that his brother, who he's in Peru with, had caught chicken pox and with James never having had it before he was going to stay in town for a night or two. Thinking that there was no point in staying in a hotel Gil offered him the use of his tent whilst he was away, and James accepted. That's who died in the fire, thought to be caused by him falling asleep smoking a cigarette. Members of the camp thought that he was staying in town for a few days, that's why they didn't see him in the the emergency head count.

GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR

At hearing Sara moan in her sleep, the most delightful sound his ears have ever heard, he smiles and strokes his hand down her body, coming to rest over her abdomen.

Using his thumb his toys with the dent in his finger where his wedding band should be. He feels naked without it, like a part of him is missing. Luckily he should have back, after it's been repaired, within the next week.

"Gil..." she slurs sleepily.

"I'm here, honey."

"Gil, promise me that we'll never not speak again. Please."

"I promise, Sara." he replies. "I love you so much, you know that?"

"Hmm... I love you, too. And so does Baby Grissom."

He smiles and kisses her neck and settles down to sleep, relaxed and happy for the first time in a week.

**THE END**

**Sorry it's taken me so long to write this, I've had no inspiration lately. **

**Lynne xo**


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